New Fight Recap: UFC 250: Nunes vs Spencer

 

Fight Recap: UFC 250: Nunes vs Spencer

www.FranchiseSportsMedia.com

 

If you didn’t know Amanda Nunes, now you know.

 

The UFC bantamweight and featherweight champion successfully defended her featherweight title against Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 Saturday night. The beatdown Nunes put on Spencer was historic. She dragged the challenger into the deep rounds, barely breaking a sweat while dishing out punishment for 25 minutes. The win put Nunes in a league of her own, as she has essentially cleared the path of potential challengers and left nothing behind but a pile of 135 and 145-pound carcasses. 

Nunes made her power known early, landing a big overhand right, but Spencer shrugged it off. Spencer tried clinching Nunes against the cage early in order to use her grappling but to no avail. Instead, Nunes took the fight down herself with a hip toss and controlled Spencer on the ground as well. 

From the very first round, Nunes took control of the fight where Spencer thought she would have the best chance at competing. It only got worse when they stood back up. From there, there wasn’t much more Spencer could do. Nunes controlled every aspect of the fight and looked like she was sparring in the gym.  Nunes tried to put the fight away several times, landing powerful punches that have put away her past opponents, but to Spencer’s credit, she hung on and kept looking for a way to win. Nevertheless, Spencer was unable to get anything going offensively and lost a unanimous decision. 

Despite not getting the highlight reel finish she’s come to be known for, Nunes put on a spectacular performance Saturday and undoubtedly makes a claim as the greatest female fighter of all time. She has now cleared the bantamweight division, and it only took two fights for her to clear featherweight as well. Where she goes from here will be determined at a later time, but rest assured her next match will be the stuff of legends. 

 

The co-main event featured the long-anticipated return of Cody Garbrandt against Raphael Assuncao. 

 

There was a bit of a feeling-out process early, with Garbrandt patiently trying to get a read on Assuncao, who is known as a defensive fighter. Garbrandt looked fast and mobile but mostly feinted in the first round to catch an opening from Assuncao, who mostly moved away to avoid strikes. 

The second round was looking equally uneventful until the very last second when Garbrandt baited Assuncao by standing against the cage and waiting for him to close the distance. Garbrandt put his hands down and ducked, and when Assuncao went in for the strike, Garbrandt unleashed a massive right hook that knocked Assuncao out cold as the buzzer sounded. It was a fantastic walk-off knockout for Garbrandt as he returned to make an enormous statement to the exciting bantamweight division. 

 

In a fight that had #1 contender spot written all over it, Aljamain Sterling faced Cory Sandhagen for a crack at the bantamweight title.

 

Sterling immediately clinched Sandhagen against the cage and took his back standing.  Sterling sunk his hooks in to take the fight to the ground and quickly locked in a body triangle.  Initially, his choking arm was on Sandhagen’s jaw, but after an adjustment, he sunk in the rear-naked choke and made quick work of Sandhage, who tapped as he went unconscious. Sterling got the submission victory at 1:28 of the 1st round.  This was a picture-perfect performance for Sterling, who will wait to fight against the winner of Petr Yan and Jose Aldo for the vacant championship later this year.

 

Neil Magny drew Anthony Rocco Martin’s name for a welterweight fight Saturday. 

 

Magny walked Martin down throughout the majority of the fight and used his massive reach advantage to manage the distance.  Martin was circling, trying to find a good counter or find the clinch to work the dirty boxing, but found little success. Magny, on the other hand, found better success clinching Martin against the cage, and draining his energy. As the fight wore on, Magny’s game plan seemed to be working, and Martin was visibly tired. Magny took the fight by unanimous decision. 

 

Sean O’Malley and Eddie Wineland kicked off the pay per view in a bantamweight fight.

 

O’Malley patiently stalked Wineland and read that the veteran was keeping his hands low and launched a vicious straight right hand that sent Wineland to the canvas.  As Wineland’s head bounced off the ground, O’Malley quickly recognized he was out and took the win by walk-off knockout.  This was the biggest test of O’Malley’s young career, and he made quick work of Wineland, scoring the knockout at 1:51 of the 1st round. He extended his unbeaten streak to 12-0, and he has likely earned himself a spot in the UFC rankings. 

 

UFC 250 featured a legendary champion etching her name in the annals of history, a former king putting an exclamation on his return, and two young lions paving their road to future glory. A Hollywood movie couldn’t have scripted a better night of fights.

 

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-Leo Schauer – Franchise Sports Media 

 

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